move a 3D object inside a part

Hi,



I recently moved from AutoCAD to Solidworks 2004. I'm not an engineer
but a scientist and used it only for short periods (= not a systematic
knowledge). I already look to the online topic and I'm currently
studying a tutorial.



I have a very basic question I've not been able to solve that is making me crazy.



I draw a 3D part and later I want to add another feature. consisting on another part that will be attached to the first one.



This part must be attached to a cylindrical shape, so that there are no
reference planes to start in drawing it. I draw the new component but
it is offset respect to the right position.



While I know how to assemble components, I did not understand how to
MOVE and ROTATE the new object in the part drawing. If I select the
object in the features manager the move and rotate features are not
available.



This must be something really stupid - sorry about that - and probably the heritage of AutoCAD mind-shape doesn't help.



Thanks very much for any advice.

Usually easies way to locate objects (especially if they are
symmetric) in assemblies is to use mates between your part
front/top/right planes. Even if there is no straight line in your part,
there are front/top/right planes, so you can use them in mating
operations.



Btw you can save assembly as a single part with "save as" and choosing part.





If you don't want to use assembly, but instead "insert parts" and work with parts only, it is quite different thing...

You can 'move' the new (second) feature relative to the first, but to
do so means editing the second feature's sketch and moving the sketch
to the position you want it to occupy.



This is another way of saying that the two sketches must have a defined relation, the second relative to the first.



While it may not have been emphasized in the tutorial you saw,
Reference planes (three, orthogonal) are present before the first
feature, the base feature, is created. And you can create more
references relative to this reference base (see Insert, Reference
Geometry).



The key to locating each feature with respect to this internal
reference system is to create relations (such as coincident with,
colinear with, etc.) and to make each sketch 'fully defined' ... which
means all sketch entities are BLACK (blue indicates an unresolved, or
Free, degree of freedom. You use 'parameters', either dimensions or
constraints (relations), to fully define your sketches.



While there are ways of solving your problem in the context of an
assembly, I suggest that you may find it worthwhile to spend some time
working with and understanding Parts of varying complexity.



For the specific (posted) problem: Is the cylinder an extrusion or a
revolved feature? How far is the center of the circle (extruded case)
or rectangle axis (revolved case) from the origin? What plane is the
'Sketch Plane' for the base feature? What plane is the base plane for
the second feature?